The third quarter of the twentieth century was a golden age for labor in the advanced industrial countries, characterized by rising incomes, relatively egalitarian wage structures, and reasonable levels of job security. The subsequent quarter-century has seen less positive performance along a number of these dimensions. This period has instead been marked by rapid globalization of economic activity that has brought increased insecurity to workers. The contributors to this volume, prominent scholars from the United States, Europe, and Japan, distinguish four explanations for this historic...

The Asian financial crisis and the global economic turmoil that followed it have highlighted the need to avert financial crises and resolve them quickly if they do occur. This book addresses current concerns that existing institutional arrangements, including the Bretton Woods institutions, can no longer adequately cope with today's world of high capital mobility. It provides a critical assessment of competing proposals to better predict, forestall, and resolve international financial crises and outlines a practical and pragmatic agenda for reform. The recommendations are based on the belief...